The outcomes of the Australian/Papua New Guinean secondary school students' project: An analysis from a postcolonial perspective

Abstract

Foreign aid evolved as a moral responsibility of developed nations to developing countries. Foreign study through educational scholarships has become a major consumer of education assistance. This thesis is concerned with the outcomes of foreign assistance to PNG education. Specifically, this study focused on the exploration of the outcomes of the Secondary School Students' Project (SSSP) from the perspectives of the recipients. The SSSP was funded under the Australian aid program. A postcolonial theoretical framework was developed and guided this research. Employing a qualitative design, this study sought to explore the perception of the recipients and issues concerning their experiences in Australian private boarding schools and on return to PNG. A case study approach was adopted. In-depth interviews, focus groups, a qualitative survey and document analysis were used as data collection methods. This study involved a total of 164 participants consisting of SSSP graduates, National Department of Education (NOOE) coordinators, personnel from tertiary institutions, employers, parents and guardians. The analysis of SSSP recipients' experiences was based on a postcolonial theoretical framework and related literature on colonial history and legacies including neo-colonialism and internal colonialism. A postcolonial rethinking of modernist discourses included a critique of dependency theory, education for development, modernisation and human capital assumptions. The case study revealed that foreign secondary education maintains personal benefits for recipients. However, the educational provision conditions the recipients to aspire to a colonial identity. It was found that the intended contribution of foreign education for national development of the recipient country is highly dependent upon the political, economic, social and cultural issues within the postcolonial state. The major themes emerging from this study revealed that cultural politics in postcolonial states can influence the outcomes of foreign funded educational projects. Cultural politics are profoundly influenced by a colonial historical value of western education and cultural hybridity (of traditional, Melanesian ethnicity and western culture). Consequently, the ambivalence (simultaneously attraction and repulsion) that exists in dynamic ways in contemporary society characterises bureaucratic, cultural and social practices. Papua New Guinea needs to define its own identity and its destiny.

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